Customer Reviews

Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights

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I am delighted to see that this classic of my childhood has been reissued. This selection of stories from the 1001 Arabian Nights is a delightful introduction to the famous compilation, and the brilliant illustrations are lyrical and evocative of the cultures of the Middle East in medieval times. Some of the tales are familiar (the stories of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad, for example), others may be unknown to most young people (the story of the Serpent Queen), but all are nicely retold by Gustaf Tenggren to appeal to children between the ages of 7 and 12.

I adored this exotic, superbly illustrated book when I was a child and was happy to find it again for my own child, who is now six. She is just ready for it -- many of the stories are rather gory in parts, but their fantasical elements keep them from seeming too threatening. (However, 4-8 as suggested by Amazon, is not the appropriate age, not only because of the stories' violent themes, but their narrative complexity. 6-10 is probably closer to the mark, with few children under eight ready to read these alone.) We are both really enjoying this as a read-aloud, and I agree with the reader who suggested that, given our current unfortunate military engagements, the material is peculiarly timely. One interesting element to note in reading these stories to children, is the emphasis in some of them on female invention and resourcefulnes -- in Scheherazde and Ali Baba, we see women as oppressed underdogs who manage to save the day through their courage and craftiness. Yeah!

The collaborative effort of Margaret Soifer and Irwin Shapiro and recommended for school and community library Folklore/Fairytale collections, Tenggren's Golden Tales From The Arabian Nights is a folklore picture book presenting the most famous stories taken from the classic "A Thousand And One Nights". Filled with excitement, danger, and wonder, this entertaining anthology with stylized color illustrations by the late Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970) is especially recommended to young folks with good reading comprehension skills.

Stories from Baghdad? Tales of Arabia (Saudi or not)? Knowing the stories that shape the lives of children half a world away where our military presence is affecting daily life so heavily might be good for our own children. It's a lot harder to vilify an enemy whose traditional stories live in your heart, I think. Not cute, not spiffed up (like the Disney version of Aladdin), these are PG-rated versions of the 1957 Tenggren Golden book edition. Included are Scheherazade, aladdin, Ali Baba, The Caliph and the Cucumbers, the Magic Horse, The Fisherman and the Afreet, Sleeper Awakened, Sinbad the Sailor, the Man Who never Laughed, The Serpent Queen and the Poor Man's Dream

Happy to find this again. Had the original as a child--this is the same, but a little smaller--wish it was bigger, but this will do. Love the illustrations! The Big Book of Elves and Fairies is coming out again too, exciting! I remember loving those illustrations and stories also.